Mark Anthony Leonard (born 27 September 1962) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who was a striker for a number of Football League clubs. Leonard was born in St Helens. He started his career with non-league side Witton Albion in 1981. Over the next 18 years he played more than 400 league games scoring nearly 100 goals at a number of teams across the North West of England as well as

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

. It was at Bradford where he spent the longest spell of his career and he was part of the team that nearly earned promotion to the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

in 1987–88. He scored 29 goals in 157 appearances at Bradford City. In 1993–94, Leonard was part of the Chester City side that were promoted as runners-up in

Football League Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

, in his only season with the club. It was the first of three successive clubs he played for under manager

Graham Barrow Graham Barrow (born 13 June 1954) is an English former footballer who has since become a professional manager in the English game. He is currently working for Exeter City as a Tactical Insights Coach for former Wigan Athletic manager Gary Cald ...

. A knee injury at the last of these,

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, ended his career. After 19 years as a professional footballer, Leonard took up

crown green bowls Crown green bowls (or crown green) is a code of bowls played outdoors on a grass or artificial turf surface known as a bowling green. The sport's name is derived from the intentionally convex or uneven nature of the bowling green which is traditi ...

. He won the Merseyside Merit tournament in 2001.

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* 1962 births Living people Association football forwards Bradford City A.F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players English footballers Everton F.C. players Footballers from St Helens, Merseyside Preston North End F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Witton Albion F.C. players {{England-footy-forward-1960s-stub